Arrived at Mono Lake, unsure of photo conditions – it’s just East of the Sierras and the Rim Fire. The atmosphere was solid grey but we hiked off to the tufas anyway. (Tufas are rocks formed in Mono Lake by mineral deposits from ground water, springs or the like.) The smoke turned to our advantage. We then slept where we could see the lake, just above a bubbling stream and woke early to catch the sunrise.